Roasted Pesto Chicken

I love making pan seared salmon that I finish in the oven with a generous dollop of pesto. I usually make my pesto in large batches and freeze the leftovers.. Since I had an endless reserve in my freezer I thought i'd experiment and get creative with it and EUREKA.... pesto stuffed chicken was born.


Whenever I roast any chicken,  I gently detach the skin from the meat and rub a good amount of butter and herbs between the two layers. This time I rubbed pesto and it was divine. The chicken was juicy, and bursting with flavour while the skin remained crispy! This is such a treat..you must try it for yourself!


Pesto Ingredients:
2 cups packed fresh THOROUGHLY washed basil

2 cloves garlic

2/3rd cup extra virgin olive oil plus extra for sauteing

1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

juice of half a lemon

good pinch of salt to taste

freshly ground cracked black pepper

Method:

Throw the parm cheese, basil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, garlic and oil into a food processor and blitz to your desired pesto-like consistency. Reserve.

Roast Chicken Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

1 onion, peeled and halved

1 carrot, halved

1 celery, halved

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 lemon

Method:

Preheat oven to 450. 

In the meantime was the chicken, pat dry and rub the lemon on the skin and in the cavity. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (inside and outside the cavity). With the tip of your fingers, gently seperate the skin from the meat of the chicken and rub pesto as far back and into the thighs/wings as you can.

Place in a roasting pan and stuff with onion, carrot and celery. Tie the legs with butcher string and rub butter all over the exterior. Bake for 15 minutes then reduce to 350 until the bird reaches an internal temp of 160 (remove and it will carry over cook to 165).

The key to crispy skin is LEAVING IT ALONE! Don't baste... the fat excreted from the skin during the cooking process will baste it for you!

Baked Cannellini Beans, Baby Tomatoes and Kale

I've finally been able to bury the childhood stigma of "beans beans the magical fruit, the more you eat the more you T%#T" aside and embrace this delicious superfood that's packed with protein!

One of my favourite beans to eat are the velvety pale cannellini variety. They're incredible in pastas, soups, spreads and salads. Their pillowy soft texture and subtly sweet taste makes this bean extremely versatile.

I sauteed some garlic and shallots, added baby tomatoes and kale then slow baked them with the beans and some parm cheese... This dish alone with a generous piece of hearty rustic bread is deeeeelish.. but I took it a bit firther and served it with fish-yumyumyumyumyumyuyuym! This is perfect with simple grilled meats, fish or poultry. Love, love, love these beans!

Ingredients:
1 cup dry cannellini beans that have been soaked according to directions OR 1 can cannellini beans drained
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 shallot, finely minced
1/2 cup homemade chicken stock or water
1.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1.5 cups chopped kale
1/2 cup baby tomatoes
2 sprigs thyme
1/4 cup freshly grated parm cheese

Method:
Preheat oven to 350.

In the meantime, saute garlic and shallots in olive oil until soft and golden. Add the tomatoes and cook until they start to collapse slightly in their skins. Add the kale and cook until it wilts. Add the beans, mix well and add the chicken stock OR water. Add the thyme and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, set the broiler on high. Sprinkle the cheese over the contents and broil for 3 minutes or until cheese melts and browns a little. Drizzle your finest extra virgin olive oil on the dish before serving!

Banoffee Pie

I don't think I've ever made an easier dessert that tasted this good. This dish is effortless and perfect for summer because it's served chilled. I've never made it before but thought it would go down a treat for the dinner party I had the other night...and boy did it ever! Even people who weren't keen on dessert went for seconds and some for thirds...before I knew it the entire pie was finished...crumbs and all!

It is a very decadent dessert but it's also balanced. The dulce de leche, whipped cream and graham cracker crust make it taste rich but the fresh banana, cooling temperature and coffee in the whipped cream gives the dessert a certain harmony. It really is a wonderful recipe and something you can make in advance and requires zero fussing about because it's served as is!

Ingredients:
400 grams graham crackers, blitzed in a food processor
3/4 cup butter
1 can sweetened condense milk (buy about 5 so you can make it all at once and store the rest!)
3 bananas, cut on a bias about 1/2" thick
1/4 cup chocolate chips or shaved chocolate
1 pint whipping cream
1/4 cup strong coffee (room temperature or chilled)

Method:
Keep the condense milk in its can and place in a pot of water. You want the water to be thrice as high to ensure the cans are always immersed. Boil and reduce to a strong simmer. Cook this way for 2.5 hours, making sure to check that the cans are always covered....if not they'll explode. Let cool and reserve.

Melt the butter and add to the graham cracker crumbs. When combined, place in a 9" spring form pan and make a crust. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Whip the cream and coffee together until it forms stiff peaks. I don't add sugar to this because everything else is sweet. But if you think it needs sugar than add A LITTLE but I urge you not to!

Remove the spring form pan from the fridge and spoon the condense milk (now the dulce de leche) over the crust in one gooey layer. Place the bananas on top of the condense milk- I like them to overlap a bit.
Put the whipped cream on top and finish with more bananas haphazardly dropped in from a couple inches above and chocolate shavings (I save that for right before serving so the bananas don't discolour...but if you want to do it ahead of time add a little lemon juice to them to keep from browning).

Ridiculously Delicious Chicken Tenders

I need to start of by apologising for this rather thoughtless photo. I was so hungry and excited about my chicken tenders that I forfeited any possibilities of plating this in a way that looks as delicious as it tastes!
They are almost as effortless as buying a box of frozen ones...well maybe not, but the result and lack of preservatives/mystery ingredients makes it worth while!

I marinate the tenders in chopped rosemary, garlic, buttermilk, thyme and mustard then dredge them in parmesan panko breadcrumbs. That's it- The rest of the work relies on your oven! You can make a big batch and freeze them for future use and if you're feeling particularly naughty you can fry them but I really don't think there's any reason to as they are so incredible baked!

Ingredients:
4 Chicken breasts cut into 1 inch wide strips
1 tablespoon dijon
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
2 large cloves garlic grated on a microplane
2 cups panko crumbs
1/4 cup finely grated parm cheese (or cheddar)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour
2 eggs (beaten with a dash of milk or water)

Method:
Line a baking sheet with a ovenproof rack.

Mix the buttermilk, garlic, rosemary, mustards and olive oil. Reserve. Salt and pepper your chicken and toss in the mixture. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the panko and parm cheese together. Remove the chicken from the mixture, toss into the flour, then toss into the egg and then the panko mixture. Shake off any excess and place on baking sheet. Repeat until you're finished dredging all you tenders.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tenders have cooked through.

Sauteed Mushroom and Leeks

This is a delightfully simple side dish that you can make in advance and serve alongside fish, chicken and any meat dish. The mushrooms give it a meaty and earthy flavour and the leeks help soften the overall taste by adding a caramelized sweet flavour and velvety texture. This is super duper delicious!

Ingredients:
1 package crimini mushrooms (or any variety you like)
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 leek, washed well and cut into thin strips
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon butter
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet and add the mushrooms (this helps them brown). Cook the mushrooms until they've reduced in size and are releasing their juices. Remove and add a bit more oil if necessary. Saute the garlic and until it softens and is a pale brown colour. Add the leeks and cook on medium low until they've wilted. Return the mushrooms to the pan and season with salt and pepper.

Summery Fresh Asparagus Linguine

I recently felt like I haven't been eating enough veggies which inspired my ultra aggressive grocery adventure last week. I bought every green vegetable in sight- kale, collard greens, broccoli, cabbage and asparagus. I managed to get through most of it over the week except the asparagus and I knew I had to cook it or it would have to be tossed. My mother raised me to avoid wasting food as much as possible..she was the best at re purposing leftovers and making dinner out of whatever spare ingredients we had in the fridge and pantry.

Inspired by her kitchen savviness, I used what I could from my asparagus and made the most divine pasta that smelt and tasted of summer. I LOVE this pasta dish and it literally cooks in minutes!

Ingredients:
1 bushel asparagus, cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces on a bias
dry linguine (enough for four people)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (this is the base of your sauce so don't be alarmed at its quantity)
4 cloves garlic cut into thin chips/slivers
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
a handful of freshly chopped parsley
1 lemon zested
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese

Method:
Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add your pasta. When the pasta is a minute away from being cooked, add the asparagus. Reserve 1/2 a cup of cooking liquid and drain.

Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add the garlic and chili flakes and saute on med-low heat until the garlic has softened and is a pale gold colour. Add the pasta and asparagus along with reserved pasta water and toss well. Place in a large serving bowl and fold in the parm cheese and lemon zest. Top with fresh parsley and serve immediately!

Chicken Pesto Pizza

When my sister visited, we wanted to do a lot of eating at home and why not?! Even though there are endless restaurants in Manhattan, we simply wanted to enjoy sitting around the table and eating at our leisure..it also helps that it's the height of summer and fresh produce is in full bloom. Equipped with a fragrant bushel of basil from the Union Square farmers market and lovely free range chicken, I decided to have a pizza night. We did have the traditional tomato sauce pizza and all the fixings under the sun (although my favourites are the classic margarita and napoletana) but I thought we'd make things a bit more interesting with a chicken pesto pizza...delish..

I like making my own dough and found another recipe that rivals the other pizza recipe I featured several months back! My darling nephew Thomas is allergic to nuts so I omitted the pine nuts from the pesto. Oh, I can hear the collective "gasp" from my fellow food purists- but I actually preferred it this way. So it was indeed a happy omission! I found that the pesto sans pine nuts is less heavy and dense, making it brighter and allowing the fresh summer notes of sun kissed basil and garlic to shine through.

Of all the pizza we made that night (about 6 large ones!) this was by far our favourite!

Dough Ingredients:

1 (.25 ounce) package of dry active yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm water (about 105-115 degrees F)

4 cups bread flour

1.5 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup cold water

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more to coat the bowl

Method:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the yeast, lukewarm water, and 1/2 cup bread flour. Mix well and let sit until bubbly, about 30 minutes.Whisk together the remaining 3 1/2 cups bread flour and salt in another bowl so it will be evenly distributed.
Once the yeast mixture is nice and bubbly and looks like foamybeer, add 3/4 cup cold water and olive oil. Using a dough hook, turn the mixer on and add the flour in increments.
Mix the dough for about 5 minutes, until the dough starts creeping up the dough hook and comes away from the sides of the bowl.
Place the dough in a large bowl lightly greased with olive oil. Turn to coat all sides of the dough with oil. Cover the bowl loosely with a clean tea towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Punchdough down, and let rise another hour.
Divide the dough into 4 equal disks. Lightly flour a work surface. Using your fingers or heels of your hands (and a rolling pin, if you prefer) stretch the disks out to a 10-inch round. Repeat with the remaining 3 pizza dough disks.

Topping Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts cut into bite sized strips

1/2 cup thinly sliced crimini mushrooms

1 ball fresh buffalo mozzarella

2 cups packed fresh THOROUGHLY washed basil

2 cloves garlic

2/3rd cup extra virgin olive oil plus extra for sauteing

1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

juice of half a lemon

good pinch of salt to taste

freshly ground cracked black pepper

Method:

Throw the parm cheese, basil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, garlic and oil into a food processor and blitz to your desired pesto-like consistency. Reserve.

Sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken and add to a skillet with about 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Add one tablespoon of pesto and cook until the chicken is almost fully cooked (you want it undercooked because it will finish in the oven). Toss in the mushrooms and reserve. With a fork poke holes throughout the dough and spread about 1/4 cup pesto (don't use it all at once..eyeball it as you may need less) on your prepared pizza dough. 

Bake in the oven until the dough is golden and almost ready to be removed. If it's dry add a bit more pesto and top with chicken and fresh mozzarella. Put in the middle rack with the broiler on high. The cheese will bubble and melt and Presto Pesto! You're ready to feast!